Sparking Conversation About Violence In The US

Some of the youth who attended a performance in Chicago and shared their stories.

There is one thing, for which the US is noted, that is not something for which we should feel proud. Because the US is one country with a high level of violence throughout the land. It's something that we have never really addressed very well.

In fact, the propensity of our national legislators to ignore this glaring problem was demonstrated with repeated attempts by one political party to scuttle the nomination of current Surgeon General Vivek Murthy because he had rightly called the high level of violence in this country an epidemic, something that has also been acknowledged for many years by the CDC.



But it doesn't take a health care career to realize that violence is a huge problem. Musician and political activist MIKE DE LA ROCHA was also quick to notice the problem. As he said, "Every day, 34 people are murdered in America. One in every 3 people knows someone who has been shot. I believe we must change our culture before any real and lasting change can happen in America."

You really can't address this significant problem without acknowledging that it exists. So, in 2012, Mike created LIVING ROOMS ACROSS AMERICA (LRAA) to utilize his musical talents and the healing effects of music to bring groups of people to the table to have conversations about the issue. The venue would be living rooms, backed by musical performances, that bring together policymakers community leaders, and neighborhood influencers to discuss how to reduce gun violence. The group started small, within five of the most violent cities in the country.

Performing at one of the living room venues.

The group's goal is to increase public awareness of the need to address this issue. It has taken meetings back to an informal and more comfortable setting, a place that such groups as the United Farm Workers utilized in their early days of grassroots organizing. It still uses music and storytelling to identify and unite interested stakeholders. Their current campaign is BROKEN HEARTED IN AMERICA TOUR. It highlights a song written and performed by Grace Weber. She talks about her piece, "I wrote this song about a year ago after one of the gun legislations didn't pass in Congress. I remember feeling so let down by our government, especially after feeling so hopeful about our potential as a country after Obama won. I feel like a lot of dreams of Americans are being shattered by the inability of the government to work together and this is sort of my plea to the government to get your act together."

If you are part of any group that is interested in joining this conversation or in developing local solutions, you can engage with LRAA to utilize a part of their performance tour to be the spark you need. Conversations have built strong movements for change in the past and they can continue to do so today.

Mike De La Rocha leading a discussion.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/mike-de-la-rocha-living-rooms-across-america-tour/; and the above links.

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